March 9, 2010
Dear Members of the Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury Public Schools Community,
On March 8, 2010, at 8:35 pm, Dr. Alberto Rodriguez, Tracy Farnham (Chair of the School Committee of the Union between Amherst and Pelham School Districts), and I came to the decision to bring to a close Dr. Rodriguez's term as Superintendent of Schools for those districts, effective immediately. The parties issued a joint statement declaring: "After the committees' and Dr. Rodriguez's receipt of the survey results from employees, particularly the feedback from a majority of senior administrative personnel who report to Dr. Rodriguez, the committees and Dr. Rodriguez agreed that it was in the best interest of all parties for Dr. Rodriguez to leave his position as Superintendent of the districts."
Maria Geryk, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, serves as Acting Superintendent until further notice. Ms. Geryk is experienced in bringing stability to the districts, having served as Interim Superintendent for the latter portion of the 2008-2009 school year. The School Committees and the Leadership Team of Administrators and Principals are committed to facilitating a smooth transition plan. School committee chairs will meet with the Leadership Team today for an open dialogue which will inform the School Committees' discussion of transition plans at our meeting tonight (see below).
The administrative staff, directors, principals, assistant principals, and department heads form the corps of district professionals who have been actively engaged all year in building budgets, and implementing a myriad of initiatives for achieving the 2009-2010 District Goals (http://www.arps.org/node/1082). They are committed to their tasks, to the community, and to assuring that there be no disruption to the work of our dedicated teachers who continue to educate the kids every day.
The Regional and Union #26 School Committees will hold a regularly scheduled joint meeting tonight, March 9th, at 6:30 pm, in the Town Room, Amherst Town Hall. The meeting will be broadcast live on ACTV. An updated Agenda for the Meeting will be posted later today.
Farshid Hajir, Chair
Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee